Rust
by JamesDavies93
Summary: A ship is found floating through the cosmos, emitting an SOS signal. The supply line vessel the Carridon intercepts it but finds the ship derelict and the crew dead. Things soon take a turn for the worst as the derelict ship and Carridon becomes a hopeless struggle for survival against an ancient and evil enemy. A universe event story, between the 4th and 5th Doctors timelines.


**Rust**

Admiral Roger Clements lie in his bed, his eyes covered by his left hand, the thin veil of a shutter letting all the light from the sun peaking past the satellites outside. He grumbled, turning away to face the rest of the room. He crunched his eyes closer together, but the light still crept through the window. Giving up on rest, he rose up out of his bed, rubbing his eyes in frustration. The intercom on the wall next to his bed bleeped  
"Yes?"  
"Sir, we have a report of a ship adrift. It's transmitting an SOS." The voice at the other end said.  
He grumbled, "Okay, I'll be up on the bridge in a sec."  
He stood up and made his way to the sink in the corner of his room, running water into his hands and splashing it onto his face. _Just another day on the job_.

Making his way to the bridge, he bustled past some of the technicians idly standing by some steaming pipes, wires strewn across the floor, chatting and drinking from a shared thermos of tea. As he glared at them, his foot got caught in them as he passed.  
"Sort this mess out!" he cried out, "Come on, you're not getting paid to sip tea and gossip." He untangled his foot, grunting as he carried on down the corridor.  
Clements wandered past some Medi-staff continually prepping beds for the absolute zero patients they were going to receive. He always wondered what they were paid for, however he knew precautions were precautions.  
Carrying on, he nodded to the two nurses who were fluffing the pillows and sheets. Both nodded back to him. He enjoyed the respect of his position. Making his way past the two burly guards, he saluted as they saluted back and took his place next to Captain Teresa Stone, the one who had called him on the intercom.  
"Admiral on deck!" She turned and saluted him, as well as the other deck crew.  
"At ease. You do realise I was trying to sleep Stone?"  
"Sorry to wake you sir, but I thought this was important. Out scanners picked up the derelict ship not five minutes ago. Seems to be a small cargo vessel, 3rd class, civilian. We began receiving the message a few seconds after picking it up on our scanners."  
"Any radio contact made?"  
"No, just static. Either something is jamming the transmission, or no one's picking up."  
"Doesn't sound good."  
"No, that's why I called you."  
"We'll follow procedure. Get a team assembled, Commander Gordon will lead the party in. Gather up security forces and tell them to suit up for dock."  
"Aye aye Sir. Armed?"  
"Small arms. Their radio could have been knocked out by solar flares, maybe even just a transmission issue, we're in a dark sector. Don't want to scare any one. Meanwhile, carry on trying to raise the ship, see if there's any reply."  
"Aye aye Sir!" She saluted and carried out her orders.

Commander Gordon Harold Shaw stood in front of the grunts as they strapped on their gravity boots and armour. He clipped on his blaster to his belt, the gun making a satisfying click as it locked into place.  
"Alright!" He called them to attention. "We don't know what the situation is over there, so we're going to have to tackle this carefully. There's no way of discerning what the situation is, it could be a radio fault, or something more sinister. The ship is transmitting an SOS signal but I don't want to go in guns blazing and cause an interplanetary incident. Is that understood?"  
"Yes Sir!" The line of men called back to him.  
"Good gents. Now, let's get to the airlock, we'll be docking soon."  
The Commander took the lead as his men filed out after him.

Shaw stood, waiting for Captain Stone to begin docking procedure. He heard the familiar unlock and hiss as the bolts for the docking tube came undone and the mechanisms pushed it towards the other ships air lock. He heard the all clear over his radio, turned, and watched as the doors to the docking airlock opened up in front of him. The strobes that lined the docking tube flashed violently towards the dark, burnt door at the end of the tunnel.

Stone ordered one of the men to watch the cameras while she watched the heart beat monitors.  
"How's progress?" She said.  
"Cutting through the door now Sir." Shaw replied. "The door had been scorched slightly, was the lock was welded again from the inside."  
She could hear the heat beam slicing through the metal. She processed what had been said.  
"What caused the scorching?"  
"High concentrated energy beam, probably a plasma blaster."  
She looked at the monitor's.  
"This isn't looking good already. I'll get the Admiral."  
"Aye aye Captain." The radio clicked off.  
"Keep an eye on things and stay in contact with the boarding party." She ordered the camera monitor.  
He gave an affirmative as she left the bridge.

Clements was on the viewing deck, looking over the other ship. With a few other men they observed over head the procedure of docking. He'd only ever had to oversee three dockings, and he was lucky that each had gone smoothly.  
However, this one felt different. The circumstances leading to it felt all too eerie. The ship they'd dock with looked damaged, some light scorching on the outer shell. The shields were down and the lights were out in the main cabin. Everything was screaming at him that this was a derelict, and was for a very sinister reason.  
His thoughts were cut off by the sound of approaching footsteps.  
"Admiral." Stone said with urgency, "The boarding team report that the door had been broken into, then welded shut again from the inside by plasma blasters. It's looking all a bit too sinister. I want to head up a group of guards for back up around the main door."  
"Affirmative that. I'm going to join you into the bridge."  
"But Sir, wouldn't you be safer up here?"  
"Yes. But somethings not right here. I'm not about to abandon my ship."  
"Aye aye Sir." Stone submitted.  
Clements, followed by two guards, followed Stone back down to the bridge.

Shaw was the first through the door, his flash light beam cutting through a thick layer of dust kicked up from the door dropping inwards. He thrust a scanner into the doorway, testing the air.  
"All clear." He shouted back.  
The men stepped forward, each clicking on their torches. They scanned the room.  
It was obvious that a struggle had taken place. Boxes were broken, their metal exteriors twisted and melted, coated in a thin layer of dust.  
"Simmons, take some men and find the control deck, we'll scan the rest of the ship."  
The man gave an affirmative and took five of the twelve men with him, each now un-holstering their side arms.  
"We'll move forward from here." Shaw said as he led the rest of the men into another part of the ship.

Simmons lead up the charge to the main deck, his blaster raised. The dust swirled about them. It was everywhere. He shined the torch onto the door. It was smashed open.  
"What could've smashed through a door like this?" one man said  
"I don't know. Radio the Commander, tell him to be on guard." Shaw said, losing his nerve slightly.  
"Aye sir."  
Simmons stepped forward, letting the light beam scan across the control board. Nothing untoward there. He was followed up by two men as he jumped into the doorway, two others taking the sides.  
Empty.  
Simmons looked over the control panel, easing slightly as he went to the board to test it. The board however was dead. He radioed again.  
"Commander, all the powers out, any luck finding a generator?"  
Nothing. A chirping blast of static was the reply.  
"Commander?" Simmons said again, this time more agitated.  
More static.  
Then came the screaming.  
The blaster fire.  
"Let's go! You two, stay here!"  
Simmons and three of the men bolted down the corridor as the two men who'd helped breach the cabin stood, guns raised, their flash lights illuminating the figures of Simmons and the other men, then the wall as they turned the corner.

"Captain, there's no signal to the ship. We've only got static coming through." The man viewing the camera monitor said gravely.  
"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Stone said, grumbling at the man.  
"It's just happened. It sounded as if the static was brought on by external influence." The man looked over the monitors, "The screens gone dead!" he said.  
"Oh shit! What's going on?" Admiral Clements leapt forward, watching the screens flicker and warp.  
"I don't know sir, seems to be a massive transmission virus attack!" The monitor said alarmed.  
"Captain, get the men at the airlock station ready. Tell them we're under attack!"  
Without replying, she ran.

Shaw looked as the long snake-like creature twitched violently. Its body fanned out like the hood of a cobra, then inwards into metallic slats. The head was a nib with two blue prongs at the end.  
The blasters had at least stopped it.  
The man it had attacked was dead, his throat burnt through to the back of the neck.  
"Try and get into contact with the Carridon, tell them we've got a fatality." Shaw said grimly.  
One man clicked his radio.  
Static.  
"No good sir, radios dead."  
"Damn!" Shaw stomped his foot.  
Simmons burst into the storage room.  
"Oh shit! What happened?"  
"That thing attacked us. It killed Martin."  
"Oh fuck." Simmons said, mouth agape. The smell of burnt flesh singed his nose. He could see the dead man in a heap on the floor near the metallic snake.  
"What is it?" he walked up to the thing.  
"I don't know, some kind of security bot or something?" Shaw said, agitated.  
"Or the cause of all of our troubles."  
Shaw looked at Simmons with a great curiosity, his head tilting as he stepped next to him.  
"You think that thing caused all this?"  
"Look at his throat."

Shaw looked down to the dead man, his hands clawed to his open neck. He looked at the burning around the flesh.  
It was white and flaky. Like powder.  
"Oh God! You mean?"  
"It looks like, this thing murdered and burned down the crew to ash and dust, then went into hiding waiting for more victims." Simmons said grimly.  
The men all looked to each other, a panic growing between them.  
"There might be more. Stick together and stay on guard. You two," Shaw pointed to two of his men, "get the body back onto the Carridon, we'll search the rest of the ship, try and get the power back on."  
The metallic snake began to beep, unheard to the soldiers leaving the room.

Clements watched as the screens flashed back to life. Their top programmers had combatted the virus, but only for the moment. The cyber-attack had been damaging, but they had some basic communications and radar systems back in order.  
"I want people monitoring this virus and any progress to be reported to me the instant anything changes."  
He left the bridge.

Shaw and Simmons lead the rest of the men to the back of the derelict ship. The power cables had been melted.  
"No power for good." A technician said.  
"Well, I suggest we get the hell out of here before anything else goes wrong. I've already lost one man, I don't want to lose another and stumbling around in the dark doesn't seem like a wise idea. Let's head back to the ship." Shaw ordered.  
As the men rounded up, the ship rocked.  
"What on earth was that?" someone called out.  
"Come on! Let's go!" Shaw called out.  
The men scrambled to the airlock. The two men from the main deck joined them, leading the charge to the Carridon. There was another shake, this time the docking tube fluctuated violently, the middle section burning white hot, then glowing a fiery orange.  
"Gravity boots and oxygen masks on!" Shaw called out.  
The two men who'd taken the lead heard too late.  
In another blast, the docking tube melted in the middle, the blast knocking one of the men to their feet and the other, bursting him into flame. The vacuum of space suck up the unconscious body of the other in the void of space. Simmons led the men back to the derelict ship, Shaw taking up the rear.

The crew of the Carridon were still reeling from the blast. The alarms blared and the lights flashed violently red. The security team at the airlock dock shut the doors, closing up the vacuum that had formed in the docking tunnel. The oxygen returned to normal, but the stability of the ship still remained unbalanced. The scanners blinked violently.  
"That ship just came out of nowhere!" One crew member yelled, holding onto the scanner for dear life.  
"Where is it?" Stone yelled.  
"Eastbound off the astern!"  
"What caused the blast?"  
"Massive plasma energy surge! Seemed to be a concentrated firing beam like the one that damaged the derelict!"  
"Any contact from the search party! Were they in the tube?" Clements stepped in.  
"No way of telling sir, there's been no contact with them. External lines were still cut."  
"I'm going to observation!" he yelled as he bolted out the door.  
Stone looked to one of the monitors.  
The speakers burst into crackling static.  
Everyone jumped.  
Silence. A slight hissing.  
A weak, metallic voice.  
"You belong to us. You will be like us."  
A symbol appeared on all of the monitors. 

The crew fell silent. They looked at the screens blinking at them, the same image on all the monitors. The message carried on relaying.  
"I want every man armed and ready in five minutes, we're under attack!" Stone called out.  
The crew began to run about. A panic set in.

Clements looked from the observation deck. He could still see nothing. His mind raced as he looked out over the damaged docking tube. He could see the faint streams of flesh and blood of an unlucky crew member floating around the void of space. He dropped his head. He'd never lost a crew member before.  
The silence was broken by a metallic clanging, an electronic crackle of energy. He looked up, out the observation dome, and watched as an electrical thunderstorm seemingly ripped open in space He knew what it was thought. A de-cloaking warp. He watched as the ship became visible, phasing into view. He recognised its markings.  
Around him, the sirens blared and lights flashed again, a message crackled over the comms system.  
"All blaster trained units to stations, we're under attack. Any un-trained personnel to the lower decks."  
Clements went back to the bridge.

"Stone! What's going on?" Clements ordered.  
"I've got heavy blaster teams down by the two airlocks." Stone called back.  
"It's the Cybermen, we need every man we've got! I'm going down too." Clements was about to leave.  
"Sir! You can't, you'll be killed! We need you here on bridge to keep order." Stone looked at him, taken aback.  
"You're in charge now Stone. As of now you're acting Admiral. A good man goes down with their ship. Remember that. I've never been in a situation like this before. I've never lost some of my crew. I guess I don't want to be the guy to write home to their wives and kid's about it." He gave a wry smile.  
Stone stood and saluted, smiling back at the morbidity of the joke.  
"Aye aye Sir." She said.  
"Aye aye Admiral." He replied.

Shaw and Simmons had finished sealing the door.  
After the blast, the air was sucked out of the room, leaving it in a vacuum. Without long lasting oxygen masks, they had to act fast. Shaw had grabbed one man and dragged the door closed. Simmons then used the cutting tool on a low heat to melt in the locks and seal up the edge, locking it back into place.  
Now, they stood, hearing the reports from their men of the ship appearing. After regaining composure among the group, Shaw took charge again.  
"Okay people. We're sealed off from the Carridon and that mystery ship looks like it's preparing to attack." Shaw laid out the basics. His men nodded.  
"It looks like Cyberman tech." Simmons said grimly, "we're under equipped here, but hopefully we'll be able to keep them away with the cutting tool."  
"Are you sure it'll work?" Another man called out.  
"It's better than the small blasters we have. Hopefully, hitting them with some blaster fire and a good jab with the cutter and they'll be liquid metal in no time." Shaw tried to maintain confidence, however he still was thrown by the situation.  
"That's a Cyber-battle cruiser out there boys. That thing probably holds about fifty Cybermen, so we'll have to keep on guard and not back down. Any sign of weakness and they'll overpower us easily."  
"We're at a massive disadvantage so we need to ensure our boarders are secure per se. I want three men here on the door, four on corridor patrol and the rest to maintain the rooms." Shaw ordered. "Also, I want to get rid of that thing in the storage bay, as soon as possible."  
"Yes sir!"  
The men carried out their orders.

Clements joined the heavy blaster detail at the airlock. He himself was kitted out with heavy armour and battle rifle. He felt secure hearing the battery pack humming at full power.  
"All right, what's the situation?" He spoke to Simone Carter, Head of Arms on the ship.  
"Nothing as of yet. No attempt of an attack. Sir, I was thinking. I could get a detail, do a space-walk. We could damage their ship before they even have a chance to attack." Her eyes burned with fury.  
"No can do. I don't want to risk anyone's life unnecessarily. We go out into that air lock, we'll leave ourselves open to any sort of attack. Their cruisers plasma blaster could wipe out a crew in a second. We want them on our terms." He looked at the sealed airlock.  
Simone had to agree. She saluted and went back to the men. They moved into position.

Stone stood in the observation deck. She'd moved up to get a better view of the action and see what could be done. That was when she saw the ship was moving up to the break in the docking tube.  
"They're going to dock!" She cried out down the radio.  
Her voice echoed through the ship. The crew became tense.

The ship sealed itself into the gap it made, stopping the pressure from escaping. The cruisers airlock scraped up against the broken tube. It hissed, sliding inwards. The doorway was massive, around 10ft tall. Something moved.

Clements sniffed the air. Something pungent began to seep through the vents.  
"Gas!" He cried out, watching as the blaster detail scrambled to get gas masks.  
Carter clicked on her internal mask radio and ordered a defensive line. They took cover, using various boxes of cargo as cover. Everyone's blasters were raised to the door. An expectant hush came over the men and women.  
Then came the clanging.  
On the other side of the door, they could hear a hollow thumping. The banging was relentless. No one was sure of what it signalled. Still, they sat in silent anticipation, fingers stroked on triggers, barrels aimed to the door.  
One man, Banks, began to whimper.  
'Oh fuck this! He called out.  
He dove over the stacks of boxes. His crew mates cried out for him to stop.  
'Dave! Get back here!' Carter ordered.  
He didn't listen. He charged to the airlock door, screaming, bellowing out in an intense rage to the door. Swearing loudly, he slammed his fist onto the emergency override for the doors, the giant locks hissing loudly as they unlocked and split apart.  
The doors slid open, then stopped half way.  
In a burst of hydraulic mist, Banks could see the giant dark figure on the other side of the door, bathed in a silvery glow as it's beady, black eyes bored down onto him. It raised a large metal skeletal hand, lines of wiring running up it like a horrible mockery of human veins and arteries in an arm. It grabbed Banks by the throat and pulled him into the docking tube.  
The doors slammed shut again before the blaster crew had a chance to retaliate.

Stone had heard the blaster fire. She raised the radio to her mouth.  
'What's going on?' She demanded, hearing the panicked breathing and scattered blaster fire as the shock died down.  
Carter replied.  
'One of them just took Banks. It sealed the doors shut again. We can't raise him. Shit, he must be dead!'  
Stone pinched her brow and looked out from the observation deck again at the docked battle cruiser. She composed herself.  
'Any news from the men in the derelict?'  
'No way of external contact, they're jamming all of our systems.'  
'Okay, I'm coming down too.'  
Stone ignored Carter's pleas not to as she ran down to the armoury, throwing on battle armour and grabbing a high power blaster off the wall.

The men in the derelict were running out of time. Shaw had rallied some men to dispose of the Cybermat they'd destroyed, however on their return found it was not there. A search of the ship had turned up nothing. Simmons's group had restored power back to the ship, however, the main oxygen and filtration unit had been damaged. They only had an hour left of good oxygen before the air would thin and then stop filtering at all.  
The two men weighed their options.  
'We could fight our way in.' Shaw said, leaning on a table in the tiny cafeteria area.  
'With our limited ammunitions? We're a search party, not an army.'  
'We have enough to at least try! Sitting around waiting to die isn't an option for me. Or if we're going to die I'd rather it be blasting down a horde of Cybermen rather than choking to death of stale air!' Shaw slammed the table.  
Simmons groaned. 'Look, we're going to have to find a way through the Cyber-ship, and we don't have enough blaster power to break through the hull to car our way through.'  
Shaw stopped a moment and pondered the issue. He looked thoughtfully into the corridor, thinking of the men around the ship. They fear they must be feeling. He thought of his friends on the Carridon.  
'What about a concentrated blast from our blasters. We all aim and hit the ship's hull. Why, the power combined could cause a rupture or, even enough damage for them to have to stop and repair, buy us some more time.'  
'The Cyber-ship is far too powerful. Remember, this is a battle cruiser. But you've given me an idea.' Simmons looked down at his battery pack for his blaster. 'We could overcharge and use this as a make shift bomb.'  
'Could risk damaging our own ship and this derelict.'  
'You want to die a hero? I'm giving you the chance too. Blaze of glory over sitting ducks. We might go out with a bang, but so will the Cybermen.' Simmons looked to his companion grimly.  
Shaw's lips parted in a grim smile.  
'I'm sold.'  
Both men couldn't see the Cybermat under the floor, its beady camera eye zooming in on their faces, transmitting to the Cyber-ship.

The Cyber-leader stood, watching the camera eye zooming on the hapless humans. Its face was exposed, the flesh pale and cold, its eyes whited out and un-emotional. Its brain throbbed through metal ribbing, the veins pulsing blue with coolant, the brain a pale grey lump of cold, calculating grey matter. It was stood, looking over the unconscious human in front of it. With a raise of its arm, it pointed to the conversion pods. Following its two counterparts, they placed Banks into the conversion pod, hooking up the wires and tubes into Bank's body.  
Banks whimpered as the tubes and wires entered his body, feeling them begin turning on. He wanted to cry out, but was still in a haze between reality and fiction. His eyes cracked open slightly, looking at the chest plate of the Cyber-leader. He strained his head up to look the creature in the eyes. As he did, he yelped like a scared dog as the blackened eyes and human face caught him off guard. He fainted again.  
The Cyber-leader entered the conversion pod next to Banks, looking out to its followers.  
'Initiate conversion process.' It croaked in a weakening electric crackle.

The men in the derelict gathered at the docking bay doors. They lined the doorway, Simmons and Shaw taking the lead. They held with them a bundle of blaster chargers, all hooked together with wiring cannibalised from the ship. Shaw held the cluster bomb in his hand.  
'Okay, I'm going to set these to full power. The charge will bounce through the wires, and then create a little bomb. Now, when I say now, open the blast doors and I'll throw the charged bomb, shut the fuckers and get ready into cover with the remaining blasters. That clear?' He said, growling, spittle running down his mouth in anger.  
'Yes sir.' Was the resounding reply.  
The men moved upwards. Shaw led. Two men accompanied him to the door while Simmons and the blaster detail took aim from the doorway.  
'Alright.' Shaw said, 'Now!'  
The soldier by the switch went for the button. Then, he froze, stopping just short of the button. He yelped and grabbed for the back of his neck. Flailing, there was the faint glint of metal shining off his back. It was the Cybermat.  
'Fire! Shit me, fire!' He cried out.  
Simmons and the blaster detail open fired, their blasters missing their mark and smashing into the soldier. He crumple, his body ridden with smoking holes. The Cybermat dropped to the floor, rearing to strike again. Simmons blasted its hooded head, the blue pins blasting to pieces.  
'It's down!' He cried out.  
Shaw looked at the dead man. 'So is he.' He replied grimly.  
He suddenly felt weightless, then numb, as the wall came hurtling towards him. He could see the flash of his men, Simmons yelping as his face lit up with an orange of flame. The dull thump of an explosion, the muted blast and screams, then the black out as he hit the wall.

Simmons watched as the doors buckled in, flames unfurling with debris like a burning flower. Shaw went flying, the blast knocking him forward, the other man was thrown back into the wall. He ordered them to fire again, but it was too late. From the smoke emerged the figures of the silver giants. Lead by one, with a slimmer design, a human jaw resting in the bottom of the helmet, the cold black eyes staring forward, uncaring, they entered the derelict. The black helmet handles signalled it was the Leader. It was followed by more tubed, bulky Cyber-troops, their faces exposed. Some of them were greening or grey, decaying through natural rot. Others still had their human eyes. They sat, wide orbs in the frozen skull, dead like the humanity in them. All of their brains were exposed, expect for the Leader, whose helmet had no electric pulse unit. The Leader stepped forward.  
'You are needed my friends. Your flesh is needed. You will become part of the Cyber army.'  
It spoke with Banks's voice, with a tinge of Cybernisation.  
The men recoiled as the Cybermen towered over them, grabbing them, hauling them off screaming into the docking tube to the Cybership. Simmons looked up as the Leader approached him. The last of his lads were being pulled away. Some had placed their blasters to the ground and simply walked in with their captors. Man and Cyberman looked at each other.  
'David?' Simmons said.  
'Si- Si- Simmons?' The Leader replied.  
Simmons retorted by grabbing a blaster, placing it to his temple and pulling the trigger.

The derelict had gone silent. The blaster crew around the Carridon's docking bay were becoming tenser. They'd heard some fire and screaming coming from the other side, then nothing. Each man and woman in the blaster detail was becoming more and more twitchy, more and more unnerved with every passing minute.  
'I don't like this one bit. This has been going on too long. We need to make the first move!' Carter was beginning to get impatient.  
'Not yet.' Clements said, 'Let's just hold back a little longer.'  
'We're sitting ducks! They've got Banks and it sounds like they've got Shaw and the others. We need to take affirmative action now, sir!'  
'Not now!' He growled back in reply.  
Their argument was cut off by the sound of pulsing coming from the door. The door was glowing a violent red. The pulsing stopped. The door melting away.  
'Ready! Aim! Fire!' Carter cried out.  
The crew responded with a hail of blaster shots, sending sparks streaming across the docking bay. The glowing stopped.  
The bay became silent.  
No one moved.  
The smoke cleared, the sparks and flames crackled and flickered violently.  
Nothing.

One man fell to the floor, his chest exploding with a mass of blue energy, his armour popping and twisting from the heat of the blast. Another man fell, the same blast of plasma hitting him square in the chest. The smell of burning flesh filled the air. Clements, Carter and the others opened fire. More blasts of plasma, spraying back. The blaster beams arched wildly down the docking tube. The figures of the silver giants could be seen.  
'Surrender.'  
More blaster fire.  
More plasma bolts.  
'Surrender.'  
Clements recognised the voice as Banks. He ordered a cease fire. The firing petered out. The plasma blasts became sparse then stopped. There was movement from down the docking tube. The Leader approached.  
'You will become like us. You will be like us.' It said.  
Its statement was met with blaster fire. Emerging behind the Leader were the newly converted Cyber-troops. Each one, a former shell of the human they once were in the derelict not ten minutes ago.  
'Your resistance will be crushed. Your blasters are inferior to our armour.'  
The men stopped firing.  
'You will join the ranks of my army. You will all serve the Cyber-race in its conquest to rebuild. We now own yourselves, and your ship.'  
The order seemed absolute.  
Clements stood up.  
'Okay. You win for now.'  
'There is no 'winning' for anyone. We will soon all be the same.'  
Carter stood next to the Clements. 'What are you going to do now?'  
'We require you all to go to the nearest consumption unit for humans. We will then assess the strongest men and women to join our ranks. The others will be used a surplus.' The Leader clenched a fist.  
'We'll play along.'  
'There is no 'Play' as you say, only conversion.'  
With that, the other guardsmen threw down their blasters and put their hands up.

While the Cybermen had rounded up the others, the control room had locked down. Stone held her blaster in her sweaty palm. She couldn't raise the others. Outside, she heard heavy footsteps. Then, the doors came bending inwards. One man fired wildly only to be struck down with a bolt of plasma. Stone took cover as the body crumpled next to her, the smell of burning flesh stinging her nostrils.  
The Cyberman had ripped into the doors and stepped over the rest of the twisted metal, its plasma blaster firmly gripped in its giant hand.  
'You are satisfactory.'  
The voice struck Stone. It sounded so much like Shaw. She held a moment, raised her blaster then open fire. There was another volley of fire between the two parties.  
'You will come to the consumption unit. I will not ask for compliance again.' It ordered.  
The steel face, with its black, hollow eyes stared blankly at the jittery crew members.  
'Where are the others?' Stone lowered her blaster, standing up from behind the consol.  
'In the consumption unit. You will be specially selected for Cyber-conversion. The remaining will be used for surplus.'  
She looked at the metallic being.

It was slimmer then what she remembered being told about the Cybermen. They used to be bulkier, more tubes and wires. However, this one seemed sleeker, more human like. Its body seemed to ripple and fold like a morbid facsimile of human skin. The chest plate had become almost like a large life preserver vest that covered the shoulders and chest. The pad in the middle would contain the things heart. She saw the little pulse of power running through the chest plate. She wondered if they were gearing up for another war. A new kind of Cyber-trooper? It was possible. The Cybermen had notoriously changed before, upgrading appearance for greater efficiency.  
She was also drawn to the fleshy lips and pinkish chin resting in the jaw piece of the helmet. She shuddered, thinking of the suffering any sort of human being must be facing under that mask. She then thought of herself being under the mask.

After a swift mop up of resistance, the Cyber-Leader and its force had gathered up the final subjects. The crew of the Carridon were totally under Cyber command.  
The Leader reminded them of this.  
'We shall begin our operations. We shall first require you to step into an orderly line.'  
The crew, whose sixty or so body were scattered around the crew's mess hall, did as they were ordered. After seeing so many of their work friends and colleagues die they had no other choice.  
'We will now separate the crew heads and their various chain of command for individual crew members.' The Cyberman that sounded like Shaw said.  
'Then, you will be taken aboard for conversion.' The Leader finished, almost taking a satisfaction in it.  
The crew did as they were ordered.  
They stood for an hour, the Cybermen scanning them, looming over them. One Cyberman wandered in carrying a Cybermat. Clements piped up.  
'A guard dog?'  
'The Cybermat is for scanning purposes. Remain silent.' The Leader retorted.  
Clements backed down. There was no way of working around them. The Cybermen were in full control and there was nothing he could think of to help. He looked desperately to Stone and Carter. Both women were being jostled around, the Cybermen's hands groping their body, feeling their muscle and flesh. He too was subject to the same feeling treatment. They were obviously looking for strong models. Clements was then pushed towards Stone and Carter. He noticed Carter was getting twitchy again.  
'What is it?' He asked.  
'Well we're in a pretty fucking fine situation here aren't we?' She was sounding distressed.  
'Calm down. You're not going to help things.' Stone spoke sternly from the side of the.  
A Cyber-trooper turned to face them, its weapon raised.  
'Simone, calm down.' Clements ordered.  
'Oh piss off! You didn't even try to fight back. You gave up the minute they docked! Now look at us. We're doomed to become one of those tin soldiers!' Carter could feel the rage building up inside her. She was going to snap.  
The Cyber-trooper was joined by another.  
'You're causing a scene!' Clements growled.  
'Remember who you left in charge Clements, stand down, both of you!' Stone gave the stern command.  
The Leader approached them.  
'Soon, you will not feel emotions. You will not feel anything that is not logically necessary to survive as one of us.' The Leader said.  
'But what about love, or sympathy, empathy for another human life? Surely the man you once were knew about that!' Carter stepped up to the giant Leader.  
'These are irrelevant in the wider scheme. They are weakness. All weaknesses must be crushed. We never grow ill or tired. We have transcended the necessities of human function.'  
'So you feed yourself through tubes and kill things because why not?'  
'That is correct.'  
The Leader swayed slightly.  
'Banks, Banks I know you're in there. Please, listen to me! It's Simone! You have to listen to me! Please!' Carter pleaded with the Leader.  
The Leader recoiled. Its Cyber-troopers stepped closer.  
'You will suffer for this.' The Leaders voice almost sounded angry.  
It grabbed Carter by the shoulder, the force of the grip pushing down so hard that she crumpled to the floor. Clements and Stone stepped forward, only to be blocked off by two Cyber-guards. They watched as Carter struggled for breath, sprawled out on the floor in a semi-conscious state. The Leader loomed over her, halting momentarily.  
'I detect gold!' It seemingly cried out, almost with fear.  
As if on cue, Carter rose up, kneeling at the Leaders feet, reaching up to its chest plate. In her palm was a golden ring she'd worn, for luck, from her father. She pounded it into the Leaders chest, breaking through the casing of its plating. There was a blast of plasma fire and she screamed, crumpled to the floor and stopped writing. Clements leapt towards the Leader, ready to deal a final blow. He however was knocked back by one of the Cyber-guards.  
'You bastards!' Stone cried out.  
'Take them to the conversion chambers.' The Leader wheezed, its voice becoming a rasp.  
The other Cybermen stepped forward, taking the men in huddles to the door. The Leader began to struggle against the wall. It pointed to Carter.  
'You will become me.' Green bile spilled from its mouth, the chest piece oozing a white foam. Clements looked at the stricken Cyber-Leader, injured for lack of a better term. Stone struggled against her Cyber-guard.  
'See you on the other side sir!'

The crew were dragged down the docking tube. The Cyber-Leader had been escorted by its Lieutenant and another guard. The conversion began.  
The Cyber Leader in a seemingly cruel act of war, saved Clements and Stone until last. It stood, stone cold and silent, hooked onto life support, the gold ring removed from its plate, it's body hooked up to tubes that pumped reddish-purple fluids into its body. It didn't watch the conversions, but watched Clements the whole time. Clements tried not to notice.  
After the last person was converted, they threw Stone into a chamber. She saluted her Admiral as the pipes and wires entered her body. She winced in pain. Clements respected her dignity, even in the face of death.  
'And now you, Admiral.' The Leader seemingly gloated. It watched as its troopers shoved Clements forward.  
'Goodbye Simmons, Shaw. Thanks for fighting till the bitter end.'  
The Lieutenant and the Leader looked to each other, a moment passing between them.  
Clements never knew what it meant as he was shoved into the conversion pod, his body stuffed with wires and pipes, and in his waning humanity, in-between man and machine, wasn't sure if he was welcoming the release from pain from fear of it, or the idea of martyrdom.  
He closed his eyes, and slipped into a deep sleep. 


End file.
